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TRAPPIST-1 and its implications


Chilled Soda

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For those of you who have not heard, NASA recently announced that they have discovered and cataloged 7 exoplanets surrounding the TRAPPIST-1 star (roughly 40 light years away). From the video that I'll link below, it has been said that 3 are in the "habitable zone" (estimated area in which temperature is suitable or liquid water, something that to our knowledge is necessary for life), and while the rest are not, with specific atmospheric conditions it is entirely possible. It was found using Spitzer's space telescope. 

 

All the planets are earth sized. The reason this is monumental is because this system has the most earth sized planets that we are aware of.

 

Interesting graphic for those who do not wish to view the video:

d5dbf092e5fc241c1b072ea4ac117f68.png

 

Due to the close proximity of the planets, this is an estimated drawing of how it will look:

47fe950453648e298832b198bd2d33d2.png

 

 

 

Now, the real debate is DO YOU THINK IT WILL HAVE ANY ACTUAL IMPACT ON SOCIETY? We often get articles saying "Ground breaking discovery" etc that we don't actually see the effects of in every-day life; do you think this will be different?

 

The full video, for those interested: 

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 DO YOU THINK IT WILL HAVE ANY ACTUAL IMPACT ON SOCIETY? 

No, because why should it? It's just some random info. We won't be even able to travel there in the near future, because it's still impossible. Maybe in the next few hundred years, but obviously not now.

 

All we can get from it is some knowledge about the space and life on other planets, but nothing else probably.

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On the short term - no.

On the long term it may actually prove to be worthwhile, naturally depending on any future development regarding the habitability of the planets and the stability of the system as a whole, and also depending on what you'd consider an impact on society.

If the planets turn out to be habitable (which is still an uncertainty, but we should be able to know that within a reasonable amount of time), then it may ultimately expand the "lifetime" of mankind as a race, given that we eventually find a way to travel there. The star amidst the system being a cool dwarf star means that its lifespan will be drastically longer than that of our sun, as it burns up its energy far slower than the sun. If we could migrate there (on whatever scale) when the sun will have burned up all of its fusable hydrogen in its core, the human race could end up surviving what would otherwise be an inevitable armageddon in some 5 billion years.

Naturally, all of this is still just a speculation right now, and there's a lot of "if"s involved. It will not directly influence everyday life, but then again, neither did discoveries/experiments such as those of Newton, Kepler, Michelson/Morley, Herschell or Galilei, even though their research and findings are still milestones in the world of science. Something does not have to influence everyone's life in order to be considered important :P

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The only thing that would make this amazing is if they find that the atmospheres are made of earth like air and there is water . than all we need to do is invent light speed travel and get there. What's really cool is that the planets are really close together which means we can possibly colonize multiple planets

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Interesting af: Yes

Useful: In the near future no, longer term yes, as this will get NASA more funding which will eventually lead to better propulsion systems etc.

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inb4: meh go there and we can fuck up another planet? *sips green tea from own garden*

 

On a serious note, no. It will not be useful in the near future as we currently do not have the technology yet to travel such distances. Maybe in a couple hundred years (or faster, who knows) we might be able too. However, it's still a great discovery.

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NASA is fake news, they give some information and valuable artwork to entertain people while they use funds for other purposes. I don't believe Neil Armstrong & Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon.

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NASA is fake news, they give some information and valuable artwork to entertain people while they use funds for other purposes. I don't believe Neil Armstrong & Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon.

Well, of course. Don't underestimate the cost of the Mars Movie set! it's like in the olden days, where e crappy camera was enough to fool people.

 

( :D )

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